Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Best Cheese Puffs Ever : Gluten-Free too!


I just have to rave about how awesome these Michael Season's brand Baked Cheese Curls taste: they are simply AWESOME. I am in cheese-puff heaven :)

Note: these are not your ordinary cheese-curls, but instead are "Hot Chili Pepper baked cheese curls", and if you like HEAT, and like nice crunchy and crispy cheesy poofs, you are going to be joining me in my cheese puff Shangri-la. When Michael Season's labels them "Hot Chili Pepper", they mean it... these things have some warmth to them. Awesome!

(if you click on the above at the top of this Gluten-Free Blog entry, you should see a larger, very detailed view that will make the chili pepper powder quite visible on the cheese curls).



Examining the gluten-free ingredients label reveals the secret to their heat and robust flavor... ingredients including: Chili Peppers (including Habanero peppers!), extractives of capsicum (i.e., pepper extracts!), turmeric, paprika, onion, garlic, and cheddar cheese. It all adds up to one incredibly tasty and tangy cheese puff treat. Oh, if not obvious, they are corn-based puffs, like most cheese puffs.

These are definitely my current favorite snack food of choice. And, because they are baked, they are much lower fat than other varieties. They have no preservatives, no MSF, nothing artificial. And, because they are HOT, they make a great "diet cheesepuff" since you can only eat so many before your tongue is burning to the point your brain tells you to stop, even though they taste so good :)

I found these at Whole Foods Market recently. I tried their regular variety too (which was quite nice, but minus the heat), but I am most certainly drawn first to these hot chili type cheese puffs since I really like nice spicy foods, and this is a great way to get some zip in a readily available snack.

And, these cheese curls are by far and away the best I have had, even compared to mainstream brands like Dan-Dee (i.e., Troyer Farms - big in the MidWest), or Cheetos (from Frito Lay brand), and a few others which, I have not eaten any of lately unless marked gluten-free or indicated on their web sites as such.

Another quick note: they call the crispier type "curls" and the more poofy cheese-snacks "puffs". I prefer the "curls" that are crispier and crunchier than puffs. So, my review should have been titled: "Best cheese CURLS ever, and gluten-free too!" to be 100% correct. Whether you are gluten-free / wheat-free / Celiac or just part of the population at large that enjoys cheese curls, and likes heat, these are simply wonderful. Time to go... I have some cheese curls to eat (can't let those ones I pictured above go to waste).

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness Mike, those look and sound FANTASTIC. and this is coming from a girl who still dan dee faaaar too much for her own good...

Thanks for posting this! :)

I Am Gluten Free said...

Well, these do sound delicious! Thanks for sharing. Will have to give them a try.

Anonymous said...

You are the nicest person ever, to provide such a wonderful blog with great tips and recipes.

I just started my gluten free diet today. My husband was laid off from work and I can't afford to order a lot of books from amazon like I used to. I did order The Gluten Free Nutrition Guide which sounds like a good primer. But as far as buying cookbooks...that will be a thing of the past for a while.

So thanks again for such a great blog. Perhaps you can post some tips for gluten free budget eating. I haven't gone through all your posts, so perhaps you've already done so.

In any event, I appreciate a food blog where the blogger just gives us the "facts" without going into personal dramas (Gluten Free Girl) or histrionics.

Your blog rocks.

Mike Eberhart said...

I hope you all get a chance to try these (presuming you like HOT and spicy snacks). mmmmm.

Anonymous,
Thanks for the very kind words. I appreciate it. And, I am glad you enjoy my straight-to-the-point blog style... it was my goal to provide useful information to people with Celiac / gluten-free conditions.

I try to keep the "drama" to a minimum; and, you mention GF Girl's site... yeah, she tends to approach this all from a much different style of detailing all sorts of personal life things, which is certainly something my "technical" background is not a fit for, but it works well for her and she has a strong following from people that like to read all about her life experiences. I plan to stick to my format of "just the facts" for the most part.

Thanks again for the feedback. Now I just need to write more blog entries (all sorts of things on my "to do" list need attention). :)

Unknown said...

Vitamin B ents beneficial for celiac patients

A Dutch study showed that vitamin B supplements to reduce the risk of developing very high levels of homocysteine in patients with celiac disease, r considered in the management of the disease.

Dr. Muhammed Hadith, the Medical Center of Vrije University in Amsterdam, explained that celiac disease increases the risk of deficiency of folate and vitamin B12, which may contribute to the development of excessive levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, and association with vascular disease.

Moor in
http://minietasingluten,blogs.com
Thanks

Maureen McCabe said...

I like this brands "lite" Cheese Puff version... never seen the chili ones... we find the lite version at Kroger, sometimes. Not always.


I love both crispy and puffy cheese doodles. I have probably never met a cheese doodle I don't love.

JMerks said...

The lite, regular flavored version of these puffs was one of the first snacks I tried a month ago when I was dx'd with celiac and crohn's. Hubby & I were both amazed & excited that they taste better than ANY other cheese puff I have ever tried (GF or not)...hands down!

I just recently happened upon your blog & I really enjoy reading your product reviews. I haven't had to a chance to read any older pages yet, but I just wanted to mention that Amy's brand of frozen products makes some really yummy GF Indian entrees. My favorite is the low sodium Mattar Paneer. It's delicious & GMO-free too! Just wanted to pass along a little GF karma.

Peace :o)

Cheese Puffs for yummy taste said...

I just love white cheddar cheese puffs for their yummy & delicious taste